Barefoot Book Club

Frank Palmer is a legend in the Canadian advertising world. He not only developed Palmer Jarvis, one of the country’s most acclaimed marketing communications agencies (and then became chairman and CEO of DDB Canada after selling Palmer Jarvis to the multinational ad giant), he is also credited with changing the face of Canadian advertising.

His book is awesome but only if you know him or worked with him!

If Frank is a friend and colleague of yours you will really enjoy the book … if you don’t know him … don’t bother.

It’s a great trip down memory lane for those of us who were there on the journey!

For that reason, we give it 2 feet out of 5!

Buy the book below, and let us know what you thought! Stay tuned for next months FEETured book.

“Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is a result of good work habits.”

You had me at ‘Creativity is a habit’ … This book is awesome!

In it, Twyla Tharp talks about creating habits for yourself. Habits that provide the right environment for you to work, and that trigger your creativity. Things that form habits, things that become second nature to you. Therefore, free up your time and energy for your creative work to flow.

Tharp does a lot of things to help stimulate her ideas. They might sound funny or strange (like the egg), they push her out of her comfort zone and force her to think differently. In addition, she also talks about preparation for being creative, and on the opposite end, over-thinking things.

“You can’t imagine the work, you can only generate ideas when you put pencil to paper, brush to canvas – when you actually do something physical.”

You know those times where you are down, and you are just thinking about all of your successful friends and how they must have it so easy. That’s probably not true of course, but I love how Tharp words it:

“Look at the luckiest people around you, the ones you envy, the ones who seem to have destiny falling habitually into their laps. What are they doing that singles them out? It isn’t dumb luck if it happens repeatedly. If they’re anything like the fortunate people I know, they’re prepared, they’re always working at their craft, they’re alert, they involve their friends in their work, and they tend to make others feel lucky to be around them.”

Enjoy this book, and follow her sage advice! It will change your life!

We give it 5 feet!

Buy the book below, and let us know what you thought! Stay tuned for next months FEETured book.

2. It’s beautiful… in an important way
When discussing the creative team led by Alfred Hitchcock, Duarte writes:

‘The presenter is the public persona of a single individual, but in reality, the best presentations result from the collaborative efforts of an empowered team behind the scenes.’

This is true for Resonate as well. Nancy Duarte deserves credit as the author, but the collaborative efforts of the Duarte firm make the book beautiful. By “beautiful”, I don’t mean simply that “the photos were nice” or “the typesetting was elegant”; rather, the numerous visuals add tremendous value to the book.

I would love to hear from you after you have read it! Please get in touch and let me know your thoughts!